Railway-rail chair.



W. I. GOULD.

RAILWAY RAIL CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1908.

945.779. Patented Jan. 11,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Jan. 11,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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wbfihesses UNITED TATE PATENT @FFTQE.

WILLIAM F. GOULD, 0F DES MOINES, IOWA.

RAILWAY-RAIL CHAIR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM F. GOULD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Railway-Rail Chair, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a. railway rail chair of strong and durable construction, so shaped that itmay be reversed in such a manner that one side of the chair may first be used to engage the rail and then when the side is worn, the chair may be reversed so that the opposite side may then engage the rail and present a new wearing surface to the rail.

A further object is to provide an im' proved chair that will not be moved longitudinally on the rail on account of the longitudinal creeping of the rail.

A further object is to provide a railway rail chair whereby the ends of the rail may be slightly elevated after they are worn by an adjustment of the rail chair.

A further object. is to provide a railway rail chair that may be removed from or repllaced under a rail Without elevating the ral A further object is to provide a railway rail chair having upright flanges at its sides and ribs adjacent to said flanges, so arranged that the chair may be used in connection with ordinary fish plates, and when so used the edge of the base of a rail will engage the said ribs, said chair being also capable of use in connection with angle bars that project beyond the edges of the base of the rail, and when so used the said flanges will be engaged by the edges of the angle bars so that the rail will be held against lateral movement relative to the chair whether used in connection with fish plates or angle bars.

A further object is to provide improved means for connecting the flanges on the chairs with the rail to prevent movement of any kind of one of said parts relative to the other.

Other objects will appear in the following description.

lly invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application fi1ed. June 20, 1908.

Patented Jan. 11, 1910.

Serial No. 439,578.

and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a railway rail chair embodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows a central, transverse sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of a modified form of rail chair embodying my invention. Fig. 4- shows a transverse sectional view of the same resting upon a tie and having a rail and angle bars mounted thereon. Fig. 5 shows a detail sectional view taken longitudinally through the base of the fish plate and showing the adjacent ends of two rails resting upon it to illustrate the structure by which the ends of the rails may be elevated. Fig. 6 shows a side elevation of a railway rail joint provided with my improved chair. Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of a modified form of rail chair embodying my invention. Fig. 8 shows a transverse sectional view of the same resting upon a tie and having a railway rail and fish plates arranged thereon as in use, and Fig. 9 shows a side elevation of a railway rail joint illustrating the form of rail chair shown in Fig. 7.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10 to inclicate the body portion of the rail chair. The chair is made slightly wider than the base of a rail and is tapered from one edge to the other. It is also made long enough to extend over two ordinary railway ties.

One of the faces of the plate, which is indicated by the numeral 11 in Fig. 5, is straight from one end to the other, and the other face which is indicated by the numeral 12 is tapered from its central portion toward the ends for purposes hereinafter made clear.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 1, I have shown a longitudinal reinforcing flange 13 at the central portion of the chair arranged at right-angles to the base of the chair and on the opposite side of the plate adjacent to the same edge, is a similar flange 14. These flanges 13 and 1 1 are of such length that they may enter between two ties upon which the ends of the chair are resting as shown in Fig. 6. At the ends of the chair and adjacent to the same edge that the flanges 18 and 14 are located on are the tie engaging lugs 15 projecting from the opposite faces of the base. These lugs are designed to engage the edges of the railway ties on which the chair is resting to prevent longitudinal movement of the chair. At the intersection of the base 10 and the flange 13 is a rib 16 raised above the face of the base of the chair, and of substantially the same height as the base of a railway rail. In each end of the base are two spike openings 17 adjacent to the edge on which the flanges 13 and 14: are located and on each end of the base adjacent to the opposite edge are two spike openings 18. These spike openings are spaced apart far enough so that a rail may be placed on the base and spikes driven through one of the openings 17 and one of the openings 18. Then the chair may be moved laterally under the rail as required to elevate it and then spikes may be driven in the remaining openings to engage the rail.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 3, I have shown a chair having a flat base and with the flange 13 arranged on the opposite edge of the base from the flange 14, the object of which will be hereinafter set forth.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9 of the drawings, 1 have shown a modified form in which the chair is made long enough to rest upon three ties as shown in Fig. 9. In this form of the invention, the chair is not reversible.

Adjacent to one edge of the chair is a flange 19 and a rib 20 is arranged at the intersection of the flange 19 with the base 10. In the flange 19, I have provided a number of screw threaded openings 21, so arranged that the bolts 22, used for the purpose of connecting fish plates with a rail, may be made somewhat longer than usual and be seated in said openings 21 as clearly shown in Fig. 8. By this arrangement the chair is firmly and securely held to the rail against both longitudinal and lateral movement.

WVith the form of the chair shown in Fig. 1, the chair is first placed upon two adjacent ties with the flange 14 extending downwardly between the ties and the lower lugs 15 engaging the outer edges of the same ties, so that longitudinal movement of the chair relative to the ties is positively prevented. In cases where the chair is held against longitudinal movement only by spikes, then it is obvious that on account of the creeping movement of the rails all of the strain will be thrown upon the spikes and they are likely to be broken or else the ties will be split, but by having the flange 14 and the lugs 15 in engagement with opposite sides of a tie, this longitudinal movement is prevented without danger of breaking the spikes or splitting the tie.

Obviously the chair may be placed in position between the ties and a rail without the necessity of elevating the rail above the ties farther than a distance equal to the thickness of the base of the rail chair. This is of considerable advantage in cases where it is desired to remove one of the chairs and replace it with another without interfering with the rail or ties. In order to do this, it is only necessary to place the chair upon the ties adjacent to the outer edge of the rail and then move the plate laterally under the rail until the outer edge of the rail engages the rib 16. Then the spikes may be placed in the chair to securely hold it in position. This may be done with any of the forms of the invention shown. The flat surface 11 of the chair is then in engagement with the rail and the tapered surface 12 is in engagement with the ties. This will cause the fibers of the wood ties at the edges thereof that are adjacent to each other to be slightly compressed until the under surface of the chair fits against said ties and this compression of the fibers at this point is of advantage in making the ties firmer at the point where the greatest strain comes.

After a considerable period of use and on account of the ware like motion given to the rails by the passage of cars over them, the top surface of the chair, as well the under surfaces of the rails at their ends, becomes worn, and therefore there is no sup port directly under the end portions of the rail. This has a tendency to permit the ends to become bent down by use and after the rails have been bent down only slightly at the ends, the hammering of the car wheels passing over the rail oints will very rapidly wear out the rails. When wear takes place in connection with ordinary rail chairs, it is obvious that the substitution of a new chair will not wholly cure the defect for the reason that the ends of the rails have become worn both on the under surface of the rail base and the top surface of the ball of the rail. However, by means of my improved chair it is only necessary to remove the spikes, then slide the chair laterally from beneath the rail, then the chair may be inverted and replaced under the rails with the tapered surface 12 in engagement with the end portions of the rails. This will tend to hold the ends of the rails elevated and to cause the tops of the rails to be straight in line with each other.

Obviously with the form shown in Fig. 1, the chair may be moved under the rails a short distance farther after being thus inverted because the rib 16 is omitted from the tapered side of the chair; and the spikes may be driven through the chair in different ones of the spike openings from the ones used previously to thereby hold the flanges of the rails against the flange 1 1 of the chair, and on account of the transverse taper of the chair the rails will be elevated slightly higher than they were originally.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 3, the chair is inverted by turning it over sidewise, whereas in the form shown in Fig. 1, the chair is inverted by turning it over endwise.

One of the advantages in connection with the use of the rail chair tapered from one side to the other is that the rail is thereby tilted slightly, so that it is in better position for withstanding the outward thrust of the car wheels passing over it, and furthermore, the chair is thicker at the point where the greatest strain occurs.

I claim as my invention.

1. An invertible railway rail chair, having a reinforcing flange on each surface, the lower one being designed to enter between two railway ties, and the upper one being designed to engage the rail.

2. An invertible railway rail chair, having a flange on each face, and also having lugs at its ends, said flanges and lugs on each face being designed to engage the sides of railway ties on which the chair is resting.

3. An invertible railway rail chair, comprising a base, a flange at the central portion of each side of the base, the upper flange being designed to engage a rail, and the lower flange being designed to enter between two ties, and two lugs at each end of the chair, one extended upwardly and the other downwardly, and being designed to engage the outer edges of two ties upon which the chair is resting.

a. A rail chair, having an upwardly extending flange at one side, and a rib at the intersection of the flange and chair, designed to be engaged by the edge of a rail base.

A rail chair, having an upwardly eX- tending flange at one side, and a rib at the intersection of the flange and chair, designed to be engaged by the edge of a rail base, said rib being substantially equal in thickness to the edge of the rail base.

6. In a device of the class described, an invertible plate having a rail engaging rib on each face, one of said faces being flat and the other one being tapered from a transverse, central line toward both ends, for the purposes stated.

7. A rail chair, comprising upwardly extending flange on one side of the plate at the central portion of one edge thereof, a downwardly extending flange on the opposite side of the plate at the central portion of the same edge, and two pairs of spike openings at each end of the plate, for the purposes stated.

Des Moines, Iowa, June 3, 1908.

WILLIAM F. GOULD.

a plate, an

Witnesses N. M. TAYLOR, MILDRED B. GOLDIZEN. 

